Facility Feature
21st Century Cooperative Replaces Old Wood Elevator With Modern Facilities

Until 2018, for more than a century, the various entities that eventually became 21st Century Cooperative Inc. operated an old-style, metal-clad wood elevator in Cumberland, IA.

Photographer Bruce Selyem, who provides Grain Journal with photography for its “Old Time Elevator” series, shot the photo at right of the Cumberland elevator in 2002.

While the 22,000-bushel wood house remained in operation until 2018, times eventually caught up with it. The cooperative finally demolished the wood structure, and in a two-phase project, replaced it with modern steel grain storage and handling equipment.

“There was a joke that we went from the 19th century to the 21st century,” says General Manager Rich Anstey, who is in his 25th year of employment at the cooperative, the last four in his current position as general manager.

Anstey notes that the number one reason for the upgrade was to increase receiving speed. “We had a 3,000-bph leg,” he says.

The cooperative accomplished the project in two phases over three years:

• In 2018, besides demolition of the wood elevator, 21st Century put up a 365,000-bushel Behlen corrugated steel tank plus a receiving pit, 12,000-bph leg, and related grain handling equipment.

• In 2020, the cooperative added a 605,000-bushel Behlen tank with related grain handling equipment, fed by the 2018 leg.

The cooperative stayed local in selecting a general contractor and millwright for the project. Both phases were awarded to Bruce Supplies and Construction, Red Oak, IA (712-623-9973).

“They’d done some work for us before,” Anstey says. “And they’re local. They’re only a 35-minute drive from us.”

2018 Phase Requires Foundational Work

Groundbreaking on Phase One took place in March 2017, and everything was completed by May 2018.

Contributing to the length of the project was the need for extensive foundational work. Anstey notes that the site has a high water table. The work crew sank a total of 218 Geopier pilings to a depth of 35 to 40 feet to support the grain storage structure.

The 365,000-bushel Behlen tank stands 72 feet in diameter, 95 feet tall at the eave, and 115 feet tall at the peak.

The tank is equipped with outside stiffeners, a sidedraw spout, and a Daay bin paddle sweep. There are no temperature monitoring cables or level indicators.

A set of six Decatur Aeration 50-hp centrifugal fans provide 1/5 cfm per bushel of aeration through in-floor ducting.

Adjacent to the new tank on the north side is a roughly 1,100-bushel mechanical receiving pit. The pit feeds a 12,500-bph Sweet receiving leg, which is outfitted with a single row of 4B

Components 15x8 CC-S buckets on 8-1/2-inch centers on a 16-inch Continental belt supplied by Applied Power Products.

The leg is enclosed by an AGI Brownie tower on a 4-foot-x-10-foot footprint, standing 120 feet tall. The tower includes a partially switchback and partially wraparound metal staircase.

At the top of the leg, grain is deposited into a Schlagel electronic six-duct, swing-type distributor. From there, grain travels out to the 2018 tank on overhead Sweet 15,000-bph drag conveyor on an AGI Brownie catwalk. The tank empties onto a 15,000-bph Sweet drag conveyor that inclines outside of the tank to feed a truck loading station.

2020 Phase Adds Second Behlen Steel Tank

The impetus for adding a second new tank in 2020 was the need for additional corn storage, Anstey explains. The 2018 tank was switched to soybeans to avoid having to bag as many beans.

The second Behlen tank holds 605,000 bushels. It stands 90 feet in diameter, 95 feet tall at the eave, and 115 feet tall at the peak.

Like the 2018 tank, it has outside stiffeners, a Daay bin paddle sweep, and a sidedraw spout. It also has no grain temperature monitoring system or level indicators.

It has a set of four Sukup centrifugal 60-hp fans delivering 1/7 cfm per bushel of aeration through in-floor ducting.

A second Sweet 15,000-bph overhead drag conveyor on an AGI Brownie catwalk carries grain out to the 2020 tank from the 2018 leg.

The latest tank empties onto a Sweet above-ground 15,000-bph drag conveyor. This runs out to a 15,000-bph Sweet jump leg adjacent to the tank, which elevates grain to a height to empty into a semi truck.

The site has space for at least one more 90-foot-diameter tank, whenever it’s needed. “The extra storage is definitely a plus,” Anstey says.

Ed Zdrojewski, editor

From July/August 2021 Grain Journal Issue

21st Century Cooperative

• Cumberland, IA • 712-774-5412
• Founded: 1998
• Storage capacity: 5.8 million bushels at five locations
• Annual volume: 8-9 million bushels
• Annual sales: $75-80 million
• Number of members: 469
• Number of employees: 54
• Crops handled: Corn, soybeans, oats
• Services: Grain handling and merchandising, feed, full service agronomy, bulk fuels

Key personnel at Cumberland:

• Rich Anstey, general manager
• Lonnie Harms, merchandiser
• Kristi Plagman, grain accountant

Cumberland Supplier List

• Aeration fans • Decatur Aeration, Sukup Mfg. Co.
• Bearing sensors • Rolfes@Boone
• Bin sweeps • Sioux Steel Co..
• Bucket elevator • Sweet Mfg. Co.
• Catwalks • AGI Brownie
• Contractor • Bruce Supplies and Construction Inc.
• Conveyors • Sweet Mfg. Co.
• Distributor • Schlagel Inc.
• Elevator buckets • 4B Components Ltd.
• Foundation • Geopier Systems
• Leg belting • Continental/Applied Power Products
• Millwright • Bruce Supplies and Construction, Inc.
• Motion sensors • Rolfes@Boone
• Motors • Baldor Motors
• Speed reducers • Dodge
• Steel storage • Behlen Mfg. Co.
• Steel tank erector • Schaffer Steel
• Tower support system • AGI Brownie